Nicholas Rowe (poet)
Nicholas Rowe (20 June 1674 - 6 December 1718) was an English poet and playwright, the 1st to attempt a critical edition of the works of Shakespeare, who briefly served as Poet Laureate.Nicholas Rowe, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. Web, Jan. 27, 2014. Life Overview Rowe was born of a good family at Little Barford, Bedfordshire. He was bred to the law, but inheriting an income of £300 a year, he devoted himself to literature, and produced several dramas, including The Ambitious Stepmother, The Fair Penitent, and Jane Shore. The last, which is his best, contains some scenes of true pathos, and holds its place. He also wrote some poems, and translated Lucan. Rowe, who was a man of very engaging manners, was the friend of Pope, Swift, and Addison, and received many lucrative appointments, including that of under-secretary of state. He has the distinction of being the 1st editor and biographer of Shakespeare (1709). He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1715, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, with an epitaph by Pope.John William Cousin, "Rowe, Nicholas," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: Dent / New York: Dutton, 1910, 323. Wikisource, Web, Feb. 23, 2018. Family Rowe was a son of John Rowe (1647-1692), who married Elizabeth, daughter of Jasper Edward, at Little Barford on 25 September 1673. His father's family was long settled at Lamerton, Devonshire, and 1 of his ancestors is said to have been distinguished as a crusader. His father was a London barrister of the Middle Temple and a serjeant-at-law, who published in 1689 Benloe's and Dalison's Reports in the Reign of James II, and, dying on 30 April 1692, was buried in the Temple Church. Rowe's mother was buried at Little Barford on 25 April 1679. Youth and education Rowe was born in the house of his mother's father at Little Barford, Bedfordshire, in 1674, and was baptised there on 30 June (Genealogica Bedfordiensis, ed. 1890, F.A. Blaydes, 16; Gent. Mag. 1819, ii. 230).Lee, 341. After attending a private school at Highgate, Nicholas was in 1688 elected a king's scholar at Westminster, where Busby held sway; but, destined for his father's profession, he was soon removed from school, and was entered as a student at the Middle Temple. Playwright Rowe was called to the bar, and Lord-chief-justice Sir George Treby noticed him favorably. Law proved uncongenial. From youth he had read much literature, especially dramatic literature, both classical and modern, and he was soon fired with the ambition to try his hand as a dramatist. His father's death in 1692, which put him in possession of an income of £300 a year, enabled him to follow his own inclinations. Forsaking the bar (although still residing in the Temple), Rowe early in 1700 saw his blank verse tragedy, The Ambitious Stepmother, produced at Lincoln's Inn Fields. The scene was laid in Persepolis. The characters, which were supposed to be Persian, were not drawn with much distinctness, but the piece was well acted by Betterton, Mrs. Bracegirdle, Mrs. Barry, and others, and answered the company's expectations (Downes, Roscius Anglicanus, 1708, p. 45). Congreve described the play as "a very good one," and it was published in full — it was somewhat curtailed on the stage — with a dedication addressed to the Earl of Jersey. According to Cibber, Rowe fell in love with Mrs. Bracegirdle, who helped to make the piece a success.Lee, 342. Thenceforth Rowe was for some years a professional playwright, and soon gained the acquaintance of the leaders of literary society, including Pope and Addison. In 1702 he produced, again at Lincoln's Inn Fields, his 2nd tragedy, Tamerlane, on which "he valued himself most" (Cibber). The hero was intended as a portrait of William III, and was endowed with the most amiable virtues, while his villainous rival, Bajazet, was a caricature of Louis XIV. Gibbon and Prescott both note Rowe's eccentricity in crediting Tamerlane with "amiable moderation" (Decline and Fall, cap. lxv. n.; Mexico, ed. 1855, ii. 152 n.) Although the plot is somewhat congested, the political tone of the play rendered it popular. It at once became a stock piece, and was played annually at Drury Lane Theatre on 5 November, the anniversary of William III's landing and of the Gunpowder Plot, until 1815. Rowe dedicated it, when published, to William Cavendish (afterwards 1st Duke of Devonshire). In 1703 he completed his Fair Penitent, a highly sentimental tragedy adapted from Massinger's Fatal Dowry. This was produced at Lincoln's Inn Fields. The printed piece was dedicated to the Duchess of Ormonde. Downes pointed out, when describing the 1st representation, that the interest, which was well maintained in the earliest 3 acts, failed in the last 2. Sir Walter Scott justly noticed that Rowe's effort fell as far below Massinger's "as the boldest translation can sink below the most spirited original’ (Essay on Drama). Dr. Johnson gave it unstinted praise: "There is scarcely any work of any poet at once so interesting by the fable and so delightful in the language.’ The playgoing public emphatically approved its pathos. The villain, "the gallant, gay Lothario," acquired a proverbial reputation. The heroine, Calista, was a favourite character with the chief actresses of the century. Rowe's Lothario and Calista suggested Lovelace and Clarissa Harlowe to Richardson, the novelist. Rowe was less successful in his classical tragedy of Ulysses (1706), though, "being all new cloathed and excellently well performed," it had a successful run at the Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket. Betterton took the title-rôle. Rowe dedicated the published play to Sidney, lord Godolphin. Rowe's Royal Convert, based on early British history, was produced at the Haymarket on 25 Nov. 1707. Booth appeared as Hengist, Wilks as Aribert, and Mrs. Oldfield as Ethelreda. The final lines spoken by Ethelreda described the blessing anticipated from the union of England and Scotland, and panegyrised Queen Anne. It was dedicated to Charles, lord Halifax. Of Jane Shore, which Rowe professed to write "in imitation of Shakespeare's style," Pope justly remarked that the only resemblance to Shakespeare he could detect was the single borrowed line— : And so good morrow t'ye, good master lieutenant! When 1st produced at Drury Lane, 2 February 1713-14, it ran for 19 nights, and long held the stage. Rowe dedicated it to the young Duke of Queensberry, and eulogised the young duke's father, who had been a useful patron. On 20 April 1715 Rowe's last tragedy, Lady Jane Grey, saw the light at Drury Lane. It appears that Edmund Smith had designed a piece on the same theme, and on his death Rowe examined his materials, but owed nothing to them; Smith merely projected an adaptation of Banks's Lady Jane Grey. Rowe dedicated his play to the Princess of Wales. Pope wrote an epilogue to be spoken by Mrs. Oldfield, who created the part of Lady Jane (Pope, Works, ed. Elwin and Courthope, iv. 419). Rowe's intimacy with Pope exposed him to venomous attacks from the piratical publisher Curll, and from Curll's hacks. In 1706 there appeared some caustic Critical Remarks on Mr. Rowe's last Play, call'd Ulysses, and in 1714 Charles Gildon put forth his New Rehearsal, or Bays the Younger, containing an examen of Seven of Rowe's Plays (an appendix denounced Pope's Rape of the Lock). In 1715 there was issued under like auspices Remarks on the Tragedy of Lady Jane Grey. Pope subsequently made Curll remark, in his Barbarous Revenge on Mr. Curll, that Gildon's onslaught on Rowe "did more harm to me than to Mr. Rowe, for I paid him double for abusing him and Mr. Pope" (Pope, Works, x. 465–6). Meanwhile Rowe made endeavors in other departments of literature. In 1704 he ventured on a comedy called The Biter, which was acted at Lincoln's Inn Fields. Although some of the songs were sprightly, it was "a foolish farce," wrote Congreve, "and was damned." But it pleased the author, who sat through the 1st and only representation, "laughing with great vehemence" at his own wit. The prologue was spoken by Betterton, and the epilogue by Mrs. Bracegirdle. It was published by Tonson in 1705, but was not included in Rowe's collected works. Translator Rowe also cleverly adapted some odes of Horace to current affairs, and published many poems on public occasions. These included Britannia's Charge to the Sons of Freedom (1703, s. sh. fol.), "the late glorious successes of her Majesty's arms," humbly inscribed to the Earl of Godolphin, 1707 (fol.), and Mæcenas, verses occasioned by the honors conferred on the Earl of Halifax, 1714 (fol.).Lee, 343. He contributed a memoir of Boileau to a translation of Boileau's Lutrin (1708), took some part in a collective rendering of Ovid's Metamorphoses, prefixed a translation of Pythagoras's Golden Verses to an English edition of Dacier's Life of Pythagoras (1707), and published translations of De la Bruyère's Characters (1708) and Quillet's Callipædia (1710). Editor One of Rowe's chief achievements was an edition of Shakespeare's works, which he published in 1709, with a dedication to the Duke of Somerset (6 volumes). This is reckoned the 1st attempt to edit Shakespeare in the modern sense. In the prefatory "Life" Rowe embodied a series of traditions which he had commissioned the actor Betterton to collect for him while on a visit to Stratford-on-Avon; many of them were in danger of perishing without a record. Rowe displayed much sagacity in the choice and treatment of his biographic materials, and the memoir is consequently of permanent value. As a textual editor his services were less notable, but they deserve commendation as the labors of a pioneer. His text followed that of the Fourth Folio of 1685; the plays were printed in the same order, but the 7 spurious plays were transferred from the beginning to the end. Rowe did not compare his text with that of the First Folio or the quartos, but in the case of Romeo and Juliet he met with an early quarto while his edition was passing through the press, and inserted at the end of the play the prologue which is only met with in the quartos. He made a few happy emendations, some of which coincide accidentally with the readings of the 1st folio; but his text is deformed by many palpable errors. His practical experience as a playwright induced him, however, to prefix for the 1st time a list of dramatis personæ to each play, to divide and number acts and scenes on rational principles, and to mark the entrances and exits of the characters. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar he corrected and modernised (Cambridge Shakespeare, pref. p. xxv). For his labors Rowe received the sum of £36.10s. (Nichols, Lit. Anecdotes, v. 597). A new edition of his Shakespeare appeared in 1714 (8 volumes 12mo). By way of completing this edition, Curll issued an unauthorised 9th volume, containing Shakespeare's poems and an essay on the drama by Gildon. Rowe is said to have projected an edition of Massinger's works, but apparently contented himself with plagiarising Massinger's Fatal Dowry in his Fair Penitent. Politics Rowe interested himself in politics, as an ardent whig. On 5 February 1708-9 he became under-secretary to the Duke of Queensberry, secretary of state for Scotland, and held office till the duke's death in 1711 (Luttrell, vi. 404). Although it is stated that Rowe's devotion to the whigs was so great that he declined to converse with men of the opposites party, Pope relates the anecdote that he applied to Lord Oxford for employment, that Oxford advised him to learn Spanish, and that after Rowe had at much pains followed the advice, he received from Oxford only the remark, "Then, sir, I envy you the pleasure of reading Don Quixote in the original" (Spence, Anecdotes, p. 178). At the accession of George I, Rowe obtained the recognition he sought. On 1 August 1715 he was made poet laureate. He was also appointed in October one of the land surveyors of the customs of the port of London. The Prince of Wales chose him to be clerk of his council, and in May 1718, when Thomas Parker, 1st earl of Macclesfield, became lord chancellor, he appointed Rowe clerk of the presentations. Poet Laureate His literary work in later life included a tame series of official new year odes addressed to the king; "Verses upon the Sickness and Recovery of Robert Walpole" in a volume called State Poems (1716, not collected); an epilogue for Mrs. Centlivre's Cruel Gift (Drury Lane, 17 Dec. 1716); and a prologue, in which he denounced Jacobitism, for Colley Cibber's Nonjuror (Drury Lane, 6 Oct. 1717). At the same time he completed a verse translation of Lucan's Pharsalia. The 9th book he had already contributed to Tonson's Miscellanies (vol. vi.) in 1710 (cf. Pope, Works, vi. 63 et seq.). The whole was published immediately after his death, with a laudatory memoir by Dr. Welwood and a dedication to George I by Rowe's widow. The translation exhibits much of "the spirit and genius of the original," although it is a paraphrase rather than a literal translation. Warton deemed Rowe's version superior to the original. Private life Rowe is described by Welwood as graceful and well made, his face regular and of a manly beauty. Lewis says he was "a comely personage and a very pretty sort of man" (Spence, p. 257). Rowe was a cultivated man, well acquainted with the classics, and with French, Italian, and Spanish literature. Mrs. Oldfield used to say the best school she had ever known was "only hearing Rowe read her part in his tragedies" (Richardsoniana, p. 77; Spence, p. 380). He was a charming companion, always witty and vivacious. Pope, who called him "the best of men," delighted in his society both in London and on excursions to the country. Rowe would laugh (Pope declared) all day long (Spence, p. 284). In a "Farewell to London," dated 1715, Pope spoke of Rowe as often drinking and drolling "till the third watchman's toll" (Works, iv. 482). Addison credited him with too much levity to render it possible for him to become a sincere friend, an opinion with which on 1 occasion Pope expressed agreement (Ruffhead, Life of Pope).Lee, 344. Rowe was married to Antonia (died 1706), daughter of Anthony Parsons, one of the auditors of the revenue; and 2nd, in 1717, to Anne, daughter of Joseph Devenish of Buckham, Dorset. By his 1st marriage he had a son John; by his 2nd a daughter, Charlotte (1717–1739), wife of Henry Fane, (youngest son of Vere Fane, 4th earl of Westmorland). Rowe's widow married, on 21 January 1724, Colonel Alexander Deanes, a step which offended Pope, and led him to pass some severe strictures on the fickleness of widows (POPE, Dialogue ii. 1738). She died on 6 Decembr 1747, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Rowe died on 6 December 1718. Writing The blank verse in his tragedies is suave, but he showed little power of characterisation. Plays The Ambitious Stepmother, produced in 1700 at Lincoln’s Inn Fields by Thomas Betterton and set in Persepolis, was called and was well received.[http://www.bartleby.com/218/0726.html Nicholas Rowe as a Link between the Later Restoration Drama and that of the Augustan Age] This was followed in 1701 by Tamerlane. In this play the conqueror represented William III, and Louis XIV]] is denounced as Bajazet. It was for many years regularly acted on the anniversary of William's landing at Torbay. In Dublin in 1712, at a time when political passions were running high, the performance provoked a serious riot.Ball, F. Elrington '' The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' John Murray London 1926 The Fair Penitent (1703), an adaptation of Massinger and Field's Fatal Dowry, was pronounced by Dr Johnson 1 of the most pleasing tragedies ever written in English. In it occurs the famous character of Lothario, whose name passed into current use as the equivalent of a rake. Calista is said to have suggested to Samuel Richardson the character of Clarissa Harlowe, as Lothario suggested Lovelace.NNDB Nicholas Rowe} Johnson noted of The Fair Penitent that, "The story is domestic, and therefore easily received by the imagination, and assimilated to common life; the diction is exquisitely harmonious, and soft or spritely as occasion requires."[http://www.hn.psu.edu/faculty/kkemmerer/poets/rowe/default.html Samuel Johnson's Life of Nicholas Rowe] In 1704, Rowe tried his hand at comedy, producing The Biter at Lincoln's Inn Fields. The play is said to have amused no one except the author, and Rowe returned to tragedy in Ulysses (1706). According to Johnson, this play was to share the fate of many such plays based on mythological heroes, as, "We have been too early acquainted with the poetical heroes to expect any pleasure from their revival." The Royal Convert (1707) dealt with the persecutions endured by Aribert, son of Hengist and the Christian maiden Ethelinda. The story was set in England in an obscure and barbarous age. Rodogune was a tragic character, of high spirit and violent passions, yet with a wicked with a soul that would have been heroic if it had been virtuous. The Tragedy of Jane Shore, professedly an imitation of Shakespeare's style, In the play, which consists chiefly of domestic scenes and private distress, the wife is forgiven because she repents, and the husband is honored because he forgives. Several of Rowe's tragedies long held the stage. Besides the annual performance of Tamerlane at Drury Lane, at the last of which (6 Nov. 1815) Kean was Bajazet, the piece was often performed at Covent Garden; there, on 9 Nov. 1819, Macready played Bajazet, and Charles Kemble Tamerlane. Of the ‘Fair Penitent,’ Genest notices twenty-three revivals up to 1824; at Drury Lane, on 29 Nov. 1760, Garrick played Lothario with Mrs. Yates as Calista; at Covent Garden, on 5 Nov. 1803, J. P. Kemble played Horatio, Charles Kemble Lothario, Mrs. Siddons Calista, and Mrs. Henry Siddons Lavinia; on 2 March 1816 Charles Kemble played Lothario with Miss O'Neill as Calista. Of Jane Shore Genest describes 22 performances. Mrs. Yates and Mrs. Siddons both acquired much fame in the part of the heroine. Lady Jane Grey was occasionally repeated till the end of the 18th century. Rowe's tragedies figure in Bell's and Inchbald's ‘Theatrical Collections. J.P. Kemble edited revised versions of The Fair Penitent (1814) and Jane Shore (1815). The Fair Penitent, Tamerlane, and Jane Shore obtained some vogue in France through French translations. The 1st 2 are to be found in the Théâtre Anglais (1746). The Fair Penitent was again rendered into French by the Marquis de Mauprié (Paris, 1750), and Jane Shore, after appearing in French verse (London, 1797), was translated by Andrieux for Chefs d'œuvre des Théâtres étrangers (1822, vol. ii.), and was freely adapted by Liadières in 1824. Poetry Rowe wrote occasional verses addressed to Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, and Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax; adapted some of the odes of Horace to fit contemporary events; and translated the Caractres of Jean de La Bruyère and the Callipaedia of Claude Quillet. He also wrote a memoir of Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux prefixed to a translation of the Lutrin. Rowe's version of Lucan's Pharsalia captures the genius and spirit of the original. Lucan's works are distinguished by a kind of dictatorial or philosophic dignity, more declamatory than poetical; full of ambitious morality and pointed sentences, comprised in vigorous and animated lines. Rowe diligently and successfully preserved this character. His versification was seldom lacking in either melody or force. The Pharsalia of Rowe deserves more notice than it obtains, and the more it is read, the more esteemed it will be. 8 editions of his Lucan (2 volumes 12mo) appeared between 1718 1719 and 1807. Among the Royal manuscripts in the British Museum is a presentation copy of Lucan, fairly transcribed, though not in the poet's handwriting. Miscellaneous Collected editions of Rowe's works — his plays and occasional poems — appeared in 3 volumes 12mo in 1727 (with portrait and plates), and in 2 volumes in 1736, 1747, 1756, 1766, and 1792. His poems and translations are included in Johnson's, Anderson's, Chalmers's, Park's, and Sanford's collections of British Poets. Critical reputation Pope coupled him with Southern as a delineator of the passions. Smollett called him a "solid, florid, and declamatory" playwright. "He seldom pierces the breast," says Johnson, "but he always delights the ear, and often improves the understanding." Recognition On 1 August 1715 Rowe succeeded Nahum Tate as Poet Laureate. His portrait was twice painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller; in the 19th century the pictures were at Knole Park, Sevenoaks, and at Nuneham. A mezzotint by Faber is dated 1715. Rowe was buried 19 December 1715 in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey. His grave is unmarked. A marble monument by John Michael Rysbrack was erected near his grave in 1742.Nicholas Rowe, People, History, Westminster Abbey. Web, July 12, 2016. Pope wrote an epitaph, which is extant in 2 forms. In Pope's published Miscellanies it fills 8 lines; that on the abbey tomb extends to 14 (cf. Pope, Works, viii. 82). Elegies, by Charles Beckingham, Nicholas Amhurst, Mrs. Centlivre, and T. Newcomb were collected by Curll in a volume, entitled Musarum Lachrymæ; or. Poems to the Memory of Nicholas Rowe, Esq. (1719); there was a dedication addressed to Congreve, and a memoir by Hales. George I granted Rowe's widow on 8 May 1719 a pension of 40l. a year in consideration of Rowe's translation of Lucan. Publications Poems * A Poem upon the Late Glorious Successes of Her Majesty's Arms. London: Jacob Tonson, 1707. * Poems on Several Occasions. London: E. Curll, 1714. *''Poetical Works. London: E. Curll, 1715. * ''Ode for the New Year MDCCXVI. London: Jacob Tonson, 1716. *"Verses upon the sickness and recovery of the Right Honourable Robert Walpole" in State Poems. London: J. Roberts, 1716. *''Poetical Works''. London: Jacob Tonson / E. Curll / T. Jauncey / et al, 1720. Plays *''The Ambitious Stepmother: A tragedy''. London: Peter Buck, 1701; London: Jacob Tonson, 1714. * Tamerlane: A tragedy. London: Jacob Tonson, 1702. **(edited by Landon C. Burns). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1966. * The Fair Penitent: A tragedy (adaptation of Massinger and Field's The Fatal Dowry). London: Jacob Tonson, 1703. **(edited by Malcom Goldstein). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1969. * The Biter: A comedy. London: Jacob Tonson, 1705. * Ulysses: A tragedy. London: Jacob Tonson, 1706. * The Royal Convert: A tragedy, London: Jacob Tonson, 1708. * The Tragedy of Jane Shore: Written in imitation of Shakspeare's style. London: Bernard Lintot, 1714; Dublin: S. Powell for P. Campbell & G. Grierson, 1714 **(edited by Harry William Pedicord). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1974. * The Tragedy of the Lady Jane Grey. London: Bernard Lintott, 1715. *''The Dramatick Works of Nicholas Rowe, Esq.. London: T. Jauncy, 1720; Farnborough, UK: Gregg, 1971. Non-fiction *Some Account of the Life of Mr. William Shakespear'' (edited by Samuel Holt Mink). Ann Arbor, MI: Augustan Reprint Society, 1948. Collected editions *''Works''. London: J. Darby, 1728. *''Miscellaneous Works''. London: W. Feales, 1733. *''Works'' (edited by Anne Deanes Devenish). (2 volumes), London: H. Linto, 1747. *''Works''. (2 volumes), London: J. & R. Tonson / S. Draper / H. Lintot, 1756. Translated *Andre Dacier, The Life of Pythagoras; with his Symbols and Golden verses. London: Jacob Tonson, 1707. *Claude Quillet, Callipaediae; or, An art how to have handsome children: A poem, in four books. London: E. Sargent / E. Curll, 1712. *Lucan, Pharsalia: Translated into English verse. London: J. Tonson, 1716. *Pythagoras, The Golden Verses. London: Jacob Tonson, 1719. Edited *''The Works of Mr. William Shakespear''. (6 volumes), London: Jacob Tonson, 1709 (first modern edition of the plays). Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Nicholas Rowe, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Jan. 27, 2014. See also * Shakespeare's editors *List of British poets *List of English-language playwrights References *''Life of Nicholas Rowe'', by Samuel Johnson * . Wikisource, Web, Feb. 23, 2018. Notes External links ;Poems *"Colin's Complaint" *Nicholas Rowe at PoemHunter (2 poems) *Nicholas Rowe at Poetry Nook (53 poems) ;Prose *''Some Acount of the Life &c. of Mr. William Shakespear'' ;Books * ;Audio / video *Nicholas Rowe poems at YouTube ;About *Nicholas Rowe in the Encyclopædia Britannica * Nicholas Rowe at NNDB. *Nicholas Rowe at Poets' Corner (Westminster Abbey) * Poets Laureate *Nicholas Rowe (1673-1718) at English Poetry, 1579-1830 * Nicholas Rowe in Johnson's Lives of the Poets *Nicholas Rowe's Writing of Woman as Feminist Hero (.PDF) * Rowe, Nicholas Category:English poets Category:British Poets Laureate Category:English dramatists and playwrights Category:1674 births Category:1718 deaths Category:Burials at Westminster Abbey Category:People from Bedford (district) Category:Old Cholmeleians Category:Members of the Middle Temple Category:Old Westminsters Category:17th-century poets Category:18th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets